by Homer
and let the heralds Odios and Eurybates follow with them.170
Bring water for their hands, bid them speak no word of ill omen,
so that we may conciliate Zeus son of Cronus, that he might take pity.”
So he spoke, and what he said found favor with all,
and without delay the heralds streamed the water over their hands,
the young men filled mixing bowls brimful with wine,
and after preparing libations in each cup, distributed it to all.
Then when they had poured offering and drunk as much as their spirit desired,
they set out from the shelter of Agamemnon son of Atreus.
And to them the Gerenian horseman Nestor gave many instructions
looking encouragingly at each, but most of all at Odysseus,180
to endeavor to win over the blameless son of Peleus.
And the two groups went along the shore of the tumultuous sea,
making many prayers to the god who holds the earth
that they might readily persuade the proud heart of Aeacides.
And so they came to the shelters and ships of the Myrmidons,
and found him delighting his heart in a pure-toned lyre,
exquisitely wrought, with a bridge of silver upon it,
which he won from spoils when he lay waste the city of Eëtion.
With this he was delighting his spirit and singing of the glorious deeds of men;
Patroclus by himself was sitting opposite in silence,190
watchfully awaiting Aeacides, for when he would break off his singing.
And they came forward, godlike Odysseus leading the way,
and stood before him. In amazement Achilles sprang up,
lyre in hand, leaving the place where he was sitting;
so likewise Patroclus rose, when he saw the men.
And greeting them Achilles of the swift feet spoke:
“Welcome; surely you come as dear friends—indeed there is great need—
who are dearest to me, even in anger, of the Achaeans.”
So speaking godlike Achilles led them closer,
and seated them on divans and shimmering carpets.200
And at once he addressed Patroclus who was standing near:
“Set up a larger mixing bowl, son of Menoetius,
and mix stronger wine, and prepare a cup for each man;
for these beneath my roof are my dearest friends.”
So he spoke, and Patroclus obeyed his beloved companion.
He threw down a great meat-block by the light of the fire,
and placed on it the back of a sheep and of a fat goat,
and the chine of a fattened pig rich with lard;
Automedon held the board for him, and godlike Achilles carved.
And these he deftly cut up and pierced through on spits,210
and the son of Menoetius, a man like a god, made the fire burn big.
Then when the fire had burned down and its flame was extinguished,
spreading the embers, he arranged the spits above them,
lifting and placing them upon the andirons, and sprinkled holy salt.
And when he had roasted the meat and heaped it on chargers,
Patroclus took bread to distribute around the table
in fine baskets, but Achilles distributed the meat.
And he himself sat facing godlike Odysseus
by the opposite wall, and to the gods he bade
Patroclus, his companion, make offering; and he into the fire cast the first cuts.220
Then they reached out their hands to the good things set ready before them.
And when they had put away desire for eating and drinking,
Ajax nodded to Phoinix; and godlike Odysseus perceived him,
and filling a cup with wine he pledged Achilles:
“To your happiness, Achilles; we do not lack fair share of feasting,
both in the shelter of Agamemnon son of Atreus,
and now even here; there is abundance to satisfy the spirit
for us to dine on. But our work of concern is not fair feasts,
but destruction too great to behold, beloved of Zeus,
is what we fear; it is in doubt whether we will save our well-benched ships,230
or they will be destroyed, if you do not arm yourself in might.
Hard by the ships and defensive wall they have pitched camp,
the high-spirited Trojans and their far-renowned allies,
blazing many fires throughout the army, and no longer, they say,
will they be restrained, but will fall upon our black ships.
Zeus the son of Cronus shows them favorable omens
of lightning; Hector in the great exultation of his strength
rages uncontrollably—trusting in Zeus, he respects neither
man nor god, but overpowering fury has entered in him.
He prays that shining dawn will show forth swiftly;240
for he threatens to hack the stern-posts from the ships
and destroy them in ravenous fire, and slaughter
the Achaeans beside the ships when they are roused by smoke.
These things I fear terribly in my heart, lest the gods
accomplish these threats for him, and then our fate would be
to perish in Troy, far from the horse-grazed pastures of Argos.
Rise up! if you are minded even at this late hour to save
Achaea’s sons in their extremity from the Trojan onslaught.
For you too there will be grief in time after, nor is there any means
to find remedy once evil is accomplished; before that take thought250
how you might ward off from the Danaans their day of evil.
“O my friend, surely your father Peleus gave you instruction
on that day, when he sent you from Phthia to Agamemnon:
‘My child, strength of body Athena and Hera will give you,
if that is their will, but your great-hearted spirit is for you
to restrain within your breast; friendship is far better;
desist from strife that creates only evil, and they will honor you more,
youths and elders of the Argives alike.’
So the old man instructed you, and you have forgotten. But even now
stop, give up this heart-grieving anger; and Agamemnon260
will give you gifts in compensation, if you desist this anger;
come now, hear me, and I will enumerate for you
all the gifts in his shelter Agamemnon promises to you;
seven tripods untouched by fire, ten talents of gold,
twenty gleaming cauldrons, twelve horses—
muscular, bearers of prizes, who won contests with speed of their feet.
A man would not lack possessions,
nor would he be lacking in valuable gold, who owned as much
as Agamemnon’s horses have won in prizes with their feet.
He will give seven women, skilled in flawless works of hand,270
women of Lesbos, whom, when you took strong-founded Lesbos,
he selected, who in beauty then surpassed all tribes of women;
these he will give to you, and among them will be the one he took away before,
the daughter of Briseus. And more—he will swear a great oath,
that he never mounted her bed and lay with her,
which is the custom, my lord, both of men and of women;
these things, all of them, will be yours at once; and if later
the gods grant us to sack the great city of Priam,
heap your ship with gold and bronze in abundance,
coming in when we Achaeans divide among ourselves the spoils;280
and chose for yourself twenty Trojan women,
who, after Helen of Argos, are most beautiful.
And if we return to Achaean Argos, nurturer of tilled fields,
you can be his son-in-law, and he will honor you equal
ly with Orestes,
who, late-born to him, was raised in great luxury.
He has three daughters in his well-built halls,
Chrysothemis and Laodike and Iphianassa;
of these, take which you will as your own, without bride-price,
to the house of Peleus; and he will give bride-gifts with her,
a great many, such as no man has yet bestowed upon his daughter.290
Seven citadels he will give to you, well-inhabited,
Kardamyle and Enope and grassy Hire,
sacred Pherai and Antheia of the deep meadows,
and lovely Aipeia and Pedasos with its vines.
All are near the sea, on the border of sandy Pylos,
and in them dwell men who are rich in sheep and rich in cattle,
who will honor you with gifts as they would a god,
and who under scepter of your rule will fulfill your prospering laws.
These things he will accomplish for you if you give over your anger.
“But if the son of Atreus has become more hateful, even to the bottom of your heart,300
he and his gifts, then on all the other Achaean forces
have pity, those worn to extremity throughout the army, who honor you
like a god; surely in their eyes you would win very great glory.
For you might kill even Hector, since he would close upon you
in the grip of his deadly madness, seeing that he claims there is no man his equal
of Danaans whom our ships brought to this place.”
Then answering him spoke Achilles of the swift feet:
“Zeus-descended son of Laertes, Odysseus of many stratagems,
I must speak out what I have to say without care for consequence,
how I will now decide and thus how it will be accomplished,310
so that you do not sit around me murmuring now from one side, now from another;
for hateful to me as the gates of Hades is that man,
who hides one thing in his mind, but says another;
and it is I who will say how it seems best to me.
I think neither Atreus’ son Agamemnon will persuade me,
nor the other Danaans, since it seems there is no thanks
for doing battle against enemy men without respite, forever;
the fate is the same if a man hangs back, and if he battles greatly,
in equal honor are both coward and warrior;
and they die alike, both the man who has done nothing and he who has accomplished many things.320
Nor is there any profit for me, because I have endured affliction at heart,
ever staking my life to do combat.
As a bird to her unfledged young brings
in her mouth whatever she catches, but for herself it goes badly,
so I too have passed many sleepless nights,
and come through many blood-soaked days of fighting,
doing battle with men who fight for their own wives.
Twelve cities of men I have sacked from my ships,
and eleven, I say, on foot throughout Troy’s rich-soiled land;
and from all these I carried off as spoil many treasures, valuable treasures,330
and would take and give them all to Agamemnon
the son of Atreus; and he hanging back beside his swift ships
accepted them, and would distribute little, and hold on to much.
Other prizes of honor he doled out to the noble men and to the kings;
theirs remain unplundered; mine alone of the Achaeans
he took away, and holds the bride fitted to my heart. Let him lie with her
and take his pleasure. But why must the Argives be at war with
the Trojans? Why did the son of Atreus assemble and lead
an army here? Was it not for Helen of the lovely hair?
Do the sons of Atreus alone of mortal men love their wives?340
No, for any man who is decent and wise
loves her who is his own and cares for her, as I too loved
this one from my heart, spear-won though she be.
And now since he has taken my prize from my hands and cheated me,
let him not test me who know him too well—he will not persuade me—
but, Odysseus, let him ponder with you and the other kings
how to stave off from his ships consuming fire.
To be sure, he has done a great deal of work without me;
he has now even built a wall, and driven a trench around it,
broad and long, and planted stakes inside;350
but not even so will he be able to withstand the strength
of man-slaying Hector; but so long as I was fighting among the Achaeans,
Hector was not minded to stir up battle beyond the wall,
but used to come only so far as the Scaean gates and oak tree.
There once he stood up to me alone, and barely escaped my onslaught.
“Now, since I am not willing to do battle with shining Hector,
tomorrow having made holy sacrifice to Zeus and all the gods,
and heaping full my ships, after I have drawn them down to the salt sea—
you will see for yourself, if you should wish to and if these things interest you,
at very early morn, riding the fish-filled Hellespont,360
my ships, and in them men eager to row;
and if the illustrious Earth-Shaker should grant fair passage,
on the third day I shall arrive at Phthia of the rich soil.
A great many possessions are there for me, which I left behind when I came on this ruinous journey,
and from here I shall lead away more gold and ruddy bronze
and fair-belted women, and gray iron,
as much as was assigned to me; but the prize of honor, though he gave me,
that lord Agamemnon in his towering outrage has taken back,
the son of Atreus. State all these things to him, as I direct,
openly, so that other Achaeans too will scorn him370
if, as I have no doubt, he still hopes to cheat some one of the Danaans,
ever covered as he is in shamelessness; nor would he,
dog though he is, dare to look me in the face.
I will no longer join him in counsel, nor in deed;
for he has cheated me outright and sinned against me; let him not ever again
deceive me with words; enough for him. Let him go his cursed way
without hindrance; for Zeus all-devising has snatched his wits from him.
“His gifts are hateful to me. I hold him at the value of a splinter.
Not if he gave me ten and twenty times as much
as he now owns, and if more were to come from other quarters,380
not as much as is brought into Orchomenos, or Egyptian
Thebes, where the greatest abundance of wealth lies stored in houses,
and which has a hundred gates, and through each two hundred
men march forth with horse and chariot,
not if he were to give me as many gifts as there are grains of dust or sand,
not even then would Agamemnon persuade my heart,
before he pays me back all this heart-grieving outrage.
I will not marry a daughter of Agamemnon son of Atreus,
not if she rivals golden Aphrodite in beauty,
and in skill matches Athena the gleaming-eyed;390
not even so will I marry her. Let him acquire another one of the Achaeans,
someone who is befitting him and is more kingly.
For if the gods preserve me so long and I reach my home,
then Peleus himself will seek out a woman for me;
there are many Achaean women throughout Hellas and Phthia,
daughters of noble men who defend high cities;
of these whichever I like I will make my beloved wife.
There time and again my strong spirit was set upon
a wife
, wooed and wedded, a wife suited to me,
to enjoy the wealth that aged Peleus acquired.400
For not worth my life is all they say
Ilion used to possess, the well-settled high city,
in those days before, in peacetime, before there came the sons of the Achaeans,
not all that Phoebus Apollo the archer’s
stone threshold contains in rocky Pytho.
Cattle and fat sheep are carried off as plunder,
tripods are for the getting and tawny high-headed horses;
but the life of a man does not come back, not by plunder
not by possession, once it passes the barrier of his teeth.
For my mother tells me, the goddess Thetis of the silver feet,410
that two fates carry me to death’s end;
if I remain here to fight around the city of the Trojans,
my return home is lost, but my glory will be undying;
but if I go home to the beloved land of my father,
outstanding glory will be lost to me, but my life will be long,
nor will death’s end come on me swiftly.
And I would advise the rest of you
to make sail for home, since you will never see the fated end
of lofty Ilion; for sure it is that over it far-thundering Zeus
stretches his protective hand, and its people are now bold.420
“But you go to the Achaean nobles
and openly declare my message, for this is the privilege of counselors,
so they will think out in their minds some other better plan,
which might save their ships and the army of the Achaeans
by their hollow ships, since this plan of theirs is not feasible
that they have now devised while my wrath raged.
Let Phoinix remain here and sleep with us,
so that he may come with my ships to our beloved fatherland
tomorrow, if he wishes; I will not take him by force.”
So he spoke, and all the men were hushed in silence430
amazed at his words; for he had spoken very powerfully.
At length Phoinix the aged horseman addressed him,
bursting forth in tears; for he feared greatly for the ships of the Achaeans:
“If now you ponder going home, shining Achilles,
and you do not intend in any way at all to defend the swift ships
from obliterating fire, because rage has assailed your heart,
how, then, apart from you, dear child, could I be left here
on my own? With you the aged horseman Peleus dispatched me
on that day, when he sent you from Phthia to Agamemnon,
a child, knowing nothing of indiscriminate war,440